Cole County school districts, towns pick officials

Voters in school districts based in Cole County went to the polls Tuesday to decide races for school boards. Contests in the county's towns also elected officials.

Voters in the Blair Oaks district chose three winners in a four-way race. The top three vote-getters were Jim Singer with 395, Matthew Fifer with 369 and Tim Van Ronzelen with 271. Kenny Weith trailed with 245 votes.

At Russellville, James Campbell, Mark Thompson and Kris Kirchner won positions to the Cole R-1 School Board with the most votes in a field of six. The totals from both Cole and Moniteau counties were: Campbell 253; Thompson 188; Kirchner 173; Kurt Brewer 120; Charlie Platter 88; and Walter Johannpeter 65.

At Eugene, there were two contested school board positions on the ballot in the Cole R-5 district, which covers parts of Cole and Miller counties. The top three in a field of six candidates were Nathan Lepper with 203 votes; Cindy Darnel with 178 votes; and Jennifer Baur with 169 votes. Trailing were Mike Schenewerk 142; Byron Shaw Jr. 124; and Roland Morrow with 139.

In the other Cole R-5 race, only one candidate was chosen. Vicki Brinkley was the winner with 137 votes, compared to 111 votes for Spencer Hoskins and 108 votes for Curt Lepper.

Other contests

In non-school elections, Daniel P. Bax won 22 votes and Daniel J. Pawliczak 9 for St. Martins’ South Ward alderman.

Based on the Cole County votes, the rest of the candidates were Donald Wolken, 266 votes, and Dannie Gipe, 133. It's believed no votes were cast in the small part of Osage County which the district covers.